Arrowhead construction



Nov. 11, 1958 w. DOONAN 2,859,970

ARROWHEAD CONSTRUCTION Filed June 8, 1956 I 1&5 ,,-/7 248,- 16 YINVENTOI? BY WILLIAM DOONAN- United States Patent fifi Pam...N...11,1958

ARROWHEAD CONSTRUCTION William Doonan, Ypsilanti, Mich.

Application June 8, 1956, Serial No. 590,240

Claims. (Cl. 273-1065) This invention relates to an arrowheadconstruction.

Objects of the invention are to provide an arrowhead constructionwherein: V

(l) Retracted cutting blades are contained in the arrowhead andautomatically opened when the arrow strikes the game; thereby inflictinga more extensive and deadly wound in the game and preventing the gamefrom easily shaking the arrow loose after the initial arrow penetration,7

(2) The cutting blades are entirely retracted within the arrowheadduring flight, thereby enabling the arrow to fly in its directed courseWithout the presence of any projecting blade portions which mightotherwise deflect the arrow in an undesired direction or decrease theflight velocity.

(3) The retractable cutting blades can be incorporated with conventionalarrows without modification of the arrows, and

(4) A low cost mechanism is provided for releasably holding the bladesin their retracted positions during flight.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on line 22 in Fig. 1.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

In the drawings there is shown an arrow construction 2 including aWooden shaft portion 4.= Shaft portion 4 carries the usual feathers atits rear end (not shown) and a conventional metal tip portion 6 at itsforward end. Mounted on shaft portion 4 for slidable movement in thearrow 7 direction is a tubular head member 8 having a pointed tipportion 10.

A pin 12 extends through head member 8 and serves to mount two cuttingblades 14 and 16 for pivotal movement from retracted full linepositionswithin member 8 to the extended dotted line positions 15 and 17. Each ofthe cutting blades is provided with an outer cutting edge 18 and aninner edge 20 which cooperates with the forward face of tip portion 6 toautomatically open the blades to their dotted line positions when tipportion strikes the game.

The walls of member 8 are provided with slots 22 and 24, and blades 14and 16 are bowed slightly in the direction of arrow 26. As a result theblades frictionally engage against the walls of the slots when in theirretracted positions. Bowing of the blades serves as a low cost methodfor releasably holding the blades in their;

retracted positions.

In use the arrow is fired with blades 14 and 16 in their retractedpositions. When pointed tip portion 10 strikes the game forward movementof member 8 is retarded. However shaft 4 continues its forward movementand the faces of pointed tip portion 6 cam against edges 20 of theblades to force them outwardly to their extended positions. In theextended positions of the blades tip portion 6 takes the dotted lineposition indicated by numeral 19. In the extended positions edges 18 cutinto the game and produce a more extensive and deadly wound than thatproduced by a conventional arrow. Additionally the blades hold securelyin the game and prevent the game from easily shaking the arrow looseafter the initial arrow penetration.

It will be noted that during flight the blades are entirely retracted;i. e. no portions of the blades project beyond the outer surface ofmember 8. Any projecting portions might disturb the flight of the arrowby acting as defleeting elements. The projecting portions would strikeagainst any cross currents of air to deflect the arrow from its course.Any projecting portions would also serve to increase the frontal area ofthe arrow so as to provide an arrow of increased flight resistance anddecreased flight velocity.

In most cases member 8 can be retained on shaft 4 merely by itsfrictional fit. However, if desired, one or more grooves 28 can beformed in shaft 4 and member 8 formed with an inwardly projectingfollower portion 30 extending into the groove. Portion 30 can beconveniently formed by cutting two slits 32 and 34 in member 8 andbending the wall portion between said slits into groove 28. Theprovision of groove-follower means 28, 30 insures that member 8 will nothe accidentally disengaged from shaft 4. Aside from the optional use ofgroove-follower means 28, 30 no modification of the conventional arrowis required to utilize the retractable cutting blades with theconventional arrow.

During the foregoing specification the apparatus has been described ascontaining two retractable blades 14 and 16. However it is contemplatedthat one of the blades can be omitted if desired. This is especiallytrue when the apparatus is used to hunt small game or fish, since fishand small animals can be killed by a comparatively small wound. Theprimary purpose of the retractable blade in this case is to prevent thegame from shaking the arrow loose after the initial arrow penetration.

I claim:

1. An arrow construction comprising a shaft; a head slidably positionedon the forward end portion of the shaft for limited axial movementthereon; a blade pivotally carried by said head for movement from aretracted position within said head to a position extended therefrom;the pivot for said blade being located adjacent the forward limit of theblade, and said blade being configured as a substantially flat memberwith its lateral edges converging together in a rearward direction; theforward end of said shaft being positioned in registry with theinnermost of the blades lateral edges; and said head being at itsforwardmost position relative to the shaft when said blade is in itsretracted position; whereby when the arrow construction is fired withtheblade in a retracted position, engagement of the head with the gamecauses the shaft to move forward relative to the head and camminglyengage against the blades innermost lateral edge, thereby moving saidblade to its extended position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein an axially extending groove isformed in the surface of the shaft; and

said head is provided with an inwardly projecting por- I tion extendinginto said groove; said groove being spaced from the forward limit of theshaft whereby to form a shoulder cooperating with the inwardlyprojecting portion for preventing detachment of the head from the shaft.t

3. The combination of claim '1 wherein the head is formed with a slotand the blade is positioned in said slot; said blade being bowed atright angles to its thinnest dimension whereby to put at least one ofthe blade faces in frictional engagement with a slot wall so as toreleasably retain said blade in a retracted position except when theshaft cams against the blades innermost lateral edge.

4. An arrow construction comprising a shaft; a head slidably mounted onthe forward end portion of the shaft for limited axial movement thereon;a blade movably carried by said head for movement from a retractedposition extending lengthwise along said head to an extended positionprojecting angularly away from said head; said blade lying inunobstructed registry with theforward end portion of the shaft, with theouter edge of said blade being unconfined by the head when in theretracted position so as to permit movement from the retracted positionto the extended position; and said head being at its forwardmostposition relative to the shaft when said blade is in its retractedposition; whereby when the arrow construction is fired with the blade ina retracted position, engagement of the head with the game causes theshaft to move forward relative to the head and forcibly engage theblade, thereby moving said blade to its extended position.

5. An arrow construction comprising a shaft; a head slidably mounted onthe forward end portion of the shaft for limited axial movement thereon;a blade pivotally carried by said head for movement from a retractedposition extending lengthwise along said head to an exposition,engagement of the head with the game causes the shaft to move forwardrelative to the head and forcibly engage the blade, thereby moving saidblade to its extended position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,133,189 Shannon Mar. 23, 1915 2,289,284 Chandler July 7, 19422,620,190 Bean Dec. 2, 1952 2,725,656 Schmidt Dec. 6, 1955

